Xinhua
2nd April 2024
China Focus: Groups supporting children, families in autism community
Hu Xiaohua can often be found glued to her phone, exchanging suggestions and words of encouragement with other parents of children with autism.
Hu, now 45, was working at a cartoon company when her son was diagnosed with autism in 2014. Motivated to support him fully, she altered her career path and is today head of the Chunyu parents' support center in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province.
"Before, I knew nothing about autism," Hu said. "My son was adorable. I thought he was just a bit slower learning to talk than other children."
She said it was a difficult time for her, and that she could often be moved to tears when she spoke about her son.
During a trip to Guangdong Province in south China, she heard about the One Foundation, a non-government organization with programs for autism. She also learned about a parents' support project that the foundation sponsored. "Each parent is isolated," she said. "But if I could connect with other families, I knew I could be stronger when facing my own difficulties. We could help and encourage one another."
Inspired, she and several other parents of children with autism established a small support group in 2015. And with the support of the One Foundation, they founded the Chunyu parents' support center four years later.
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